Search This Blog

Pages

In Flight Movie Reviews: Annie, Cinderella, 12 Years a Slave

Living abroad for the last 10 months, I was looking forward
to catching a few US films that I had missed, and our flight to America provided me
with a personal screen and 11 hours of opportunity.

I was drawn to family films, but thought perhaps I should seize the chance to watch things that the rest of my
family would choose to avoid. I played a few minutes of a few different movies, but quickly ended each because I am unapologetically fed up with bad movies.

Seriously, I do not want to give any more of my time to: less than heroic heroes, crudeness as a substitute
for cleverness, visual one-ups versus true beauty, and other things that don’t fit the bill of
“excellent, admirable, true, praiseworthy…”etc.

So after initially avoiding the kid/family section, I revisited
it and chose these 3 movies for my flight:

The new remake of Annie

Disney’s live action Cinderella

12 Years a Slave

I ended up loving ALL THREE so much that I chose not to
watch a fourth but instead to write my thoughts about them for the final leg of
the flight. Welcome to my tired but uplifted mind!

Annie

My heart is gripped for today's orphans!!!

My oldest daughter and I had wanted to watch this one
together, so we started the flight by choosing to watch it simultaneously “1,
2, 3, PLAY!”

Personal tendencies would draw me to be a critic of
this particular musical because during my senior year of high school I participated in a production of Annie. Once I’ve spent months with
a script and a score and have taken on a character personally, I know it by heart and appreciate every tiny detail. Not only that, but it also
holds a special place in my heart, which makes me sensitive when people mess
with it, and consequently, makes me overly critical.

But I did not criticize this—I LOVED IT!

I thought the
modern day setting gave a whole new spin and one that engaged my heart
immediately. Instead of Annie being a story about optimism during the Great
Depression, it became a story about modern day orphans, and the moment Pepper
said her first line about how she would never get parents because she was about
to be 13 and “no one wants a teenager,” my eyes filled with tears. Oh how I am
gripped for today’s orphans! So on a heart level, I really appreciated the
movie; on an enjoyment level, my daughter and I toe-tapped to the remix
versions, sang along with the old songs, and laughed out loud (while wearing
headphones on a plane mind you) at Jamie Foxx.

And yeah, in my opinion, no one can beat
Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan—that's a legendary performance, but Cameron
Diaz has spunk enough for the has-been-pop-star Hannigan, and I respect her for taking on a role which shows
her emerging wrinkles. Really.

Cinderella

Character of conviction

Cinderella is my favorite Disney princess. She possesses a
strong character—one of patience, gentleness and endurance. I also generally
like live-action Cinderella stories--I loved Drew Barrymore’s performance in
Ever After in the late 90’s, but I was disappointed with that film’s end because
her Cinderella character, Danielle, spites the stepmother and stepsisters in the end, and I don’t
feel that keeping in character of Cinderella.

I rejoiced in my Spirit when this Cinderella movie ended with
forgiveness. I loved the mommy-mantra that echoed throughout: “Have courage and
be kind.” What fantastic qualities to emulate! And how refreshing that the film showed the inner struggle of Cinderella. She fought to CHOOSE courage and kindness. I am applauding Disney for
temporarily abandoning the “follow your heart” doctrine and instead displaying
the “have the character of conviction” doctrine.

And Cate Blanchett was a great stepmother with much depth. Brilliant as always.

12 Years a Slave

Two emotions: grief and anger--Forced my eyes and heart to engage with injustice.

This one was hard to watch. But in light of recent events
and tragedies in our country, I felt it really important to not turn a blind
eye to this brutal yet true part of history. I thought about how, as a
Southerner, I’ve visited several historic plantation sites. I have always enjoyed these
tours—seeing the antique furniture, architecture, and a picture of American
history. I remember touring the slave quarters and feeling sad at the site of
them. As I watched 12 Years a Slave, it brought those former quarters to life,
and I grieved much more deeply over their existence. I pondered what kind of Southerner I would
have been—it’s easy to say, “I would’ve been a Brad Pitt”—the one who boldly
speaks against injustice even though it loses him friends and puts him at risk.
But what if it is more likely that I would’ve been the
compassionate-yet-permissive character?--the one who treats people kindly, but
who doesn’t make waves? I can’t pass judgment on those in the past without
examining myself in the present. With so much racial tension remaining in our country, it is beneficial for me to ask:

How does this story translate today and where can I be
speaking more loudly against injustices in the world?

I also had a secondary reaction to this film.

It angered me that men in this time period were using the Word of
God inaccurately to manipulate their personal agenda. I mean, it really burned
me inside that they twisted something so precious and revered to me, and something that at it's core is the embodiment of truth and love. I thought, “How could these people be SO BLIND? How could they
not see other human beings as human?! How could they think
God’s Word advocated their actions?! Or worse, how could they purposefully use it for evil?!"

It reminded me of what God’s Word says about itself that “wisdom of the world is
foolishness” that people will continually twist and misunderstand the Word of
God UNLESS they are reading it with a heart fully surrendered to Jesus. A heart searching for verses to back-up it's own agenda will always find an out of context verse to use. And one of the biggest sins of the plantation owners was the omission of critical passages of understanding God's full story of human redemption.

It reminded me
of a quote from George Muller,

"God showed me that His word alone is our
standard of judgment in spiritual things. The Word can be explained only by the
Holy Spirit who is the teacher of His people.”

And I thought, “Well that translates today, FOR SURE.” It
was all up and down my facebook feed with last week's Supreme Court decision about gay
marriage. People will continue to misunderstand the Bible until they approach it with a prayer asking for Wisdom, with a humble heart that remembers John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh (i.e. human, i.e. Jesus) and dwelt among us."

Jesus gives wisdom to understanding the scriptures.

My action point from this reflection will be to pray for people to approach the Bible with this attitude, looking to Jesus for help, and to earnestly dig in and read it for themselves. And I will continue to do the same. And to encourage you, dear reader, to seek the scriptures for yourself. If you don't know where to start, my suggestion is to start with the verses I referenced--John chapter 1, verse 1, and finish that book. You must truly understand Jesus, before you can understand any of the rest.

Also, my action point will be to not turn a blind eye to injustice, but to be a courageous voice, starting with this here post.

Popular posts from this blog

Where we live there are a lot of winding country roads which effect our ability to receive a consistent radio signal. (Who listens to radio anymore? Spotify, XM, playlists from my phone...yeah, yeah, I'm aware of these things, but I still love the spontaneity and variety of good old fashioned FM radio--and so much so that I'm not even deterred by a poor signal). It's commonplace for my kids and I to be singing along to a song only to be interrupted by static or worse, a competing radio signal which gives us the pleasure of two songs at once.

Yesterday my girls and I were enjoying a particular favorite song when another signal encroached. We kept singing along to our tune as it remained the dominant. It started to fade, and only a word or two emerged amidst the chit-chat of the other station. My youngest daughter stopped singing to ask, "Can you just turn it off?" I said, "Sure, but y'all keep on singing." So they did.

This summer marks our 12th year of raising support. In other words, we raise all the money that funds our ministry, our income, our health benefits, our social security taxes; i.e. everything. I was casually chatting with a friend over lunch yesterday (casually because we were sitting on damp beach blankets while our kids picnicked in swimsuits in the backyard) about how God has changed my view of this task of support-raising over the years. When we began fresh out of college, the idea of support-raising seemed daunting, but faith-stretching. And I worried what people would think of us. Would they think we are beggars?

We focused on "God, will you meet our needs?"
"Yes, I will; in my time," answered the Almighty.

He slowly led us to compassionate individuals, many of whom we had never met, and we had the privilege of experiencing His provision through the compassion of His people.

The abundance of His provision has ebbed and flowed over the years--needs always met, …

I've spent 15 years in ministry, and I've found an increasing problem that people who say they believe the Bible haven't actually read it and people who don't believe the Bible don't want to, mostly because of the misbehavior of the former. My suggested solution to both groups is to read it for yourself, not only because you will be accurately informed, but also because there is none such other source that proves to bring about life-changing joy and peace. When I mention this, it usually surfaces at least one of these 10 barriers that prevent folks from completing it.
Do you relate to any of these barriers?
Will you accept my challenge to read the Bible for yourself this year?
Can I persuade you that there is no good reason to say no?

10 Reasons Most People Don't Read the Bible, Refuted
1. I'm not religious.
The Bible is the best-selling book of all time. Jesus has been hailed by secular sources as the most influential person to ever walk on the earth. Most…